Crazy, Lazy, Frustrating Day

So, remember those girls from last night who I shared a hostel room with? Ok, now you remember the stuft animals? Ok, well during the night one of them hit me in the head. The girl in the bunk above me dropped her stuft walrus and somehow the damn thing fell off her bed, hit the buck next to us, and then hit me in the head while I was sleeping. Damn walrus woke me up!! Ha Ha!

Morning in Florence

I made my way out the door, got my coffee, and then boarded my train to Rome. I was going to go to Orvieto, but I had a hard time finding a hostel, so it's off to Rome! On the train I sat across from an American girl, but neither of said a word to get other. She didn't seem like she wanted to talk and I wanted to use the time on the train to write (this information will be important later). I arrived in Rome about 9:45am and I was pretty tired. I found the tourist office and bought a metro pass for 3-days. I sat frustrated for about 20-minutes trying to find my hostel's street on the map. I couldn't find it!!! Finally I got back in line to ask and there was a swarm of people around the office. I jumped in line and wait and then all of these people started pushing and shoving and cutting in line. A women cut right in front of me and I got after her....I was pretty arrogant, "Where's the line?" I said. She just looked at me and said, "I don't know" as she shrugged her shoulders. I exclaimed aloud, "Fuck this!" and I got out of line. I went back to the map. I knew the hostel was right near the college, but I could find the college. I finally asked a girl next me and she was able to help me. Well, I was trying to go from memory as to the rough location of the hostel from what I remember seeing online.....hadn't failed me to that point. Well, I think the hostel's map and directions were wrong. I was in a totally different area from what it stated online. Well, the hostel was off the map. I couldn't find another map so I just took a taxi to the hostel. I get in line and grab a taxi. I ask, "How much to this address?" and I give it to her and she says, "15 Euros" and I exclaim, "15 Euros?!!!" and then she says, "Oh no no umm 10 Euros umm 5 to 10 Euros I don't know what the meter will be". At this point I just want to get there and then once I know where the place is I won't need to deal with the taxis anymore. We get to the hostel and the meter reads, "7.40" and she says, "Okay that will be 10.40". I said, "But, the meter reads 7.40" and then she explains and points to a chart in the cab that there is a 3 Euro charge for transporting my bag. I said, "That is bull-shit, fuck-it, just take the money". It was stupid!

I walk into the lobby of the building that the hostel is in. As I'm walking in there is a guy who is on the far end of the room getting off the elevator. I walk in looking for the hostel and this Roman guy says to me arrogantly, "Thanks for holding the door open for me!". I didn't reply to him. Dude! I just wanted to say, "You're a big boy you can do it yourself!" It's not like he was right there or holding a bunch of stuff in his hand and couldn't manage a door. His comment was funny because I've found in Europe that it's uncommon for people to hold open doors for you. I always go out of my way to open doors if people are behind me or are right there, but I'm not the doorman and I'm not going to stand there because you need service. That just irked me! I get into the hostel and I'm crammed into a room with 5 other people. Sucks! Not the cleanest hostel either and I'm here for 3-nights.....sucks! I was in a little pissy mood from experiences earlier so I decided to unwind a bit before going out wondering. I got to a point where I was like, "I suppose I should get up and see the Vatican". I thought to myself, "Wow, that's odd....I'm in Rome and I'm being lazy about going to see the world's spiritual center. It was funny, but odd because that is not something you get to say on a daily basis. You know? "I suppose, I better go see the Vatican"? I took the metro to the Vatican which was pretty easy, but they have directions pointing places that aren't there. One said, "A-Line this way" with an arrow and it pointed to a dead-end. The A-Line was in the opposite direction. Later in the day I would follow the exit signs to another platform. It's useless!

I arrive at the Vatican and the walls of the place are gigantic! I get in a long line for the museum and go through their medal detectors. No problem! Now, I'm not really sure where anything is nor really what to see at the Vatican. I wanted to see the Sistine Chapel and the main square, but I was unsure where to find this stuff.....or if there was anything else I'd liked to see. I asked a lady at a ticket office if there was an information desk and she says, "No, you'll have to buy a book upstairs". Odd! So I just wondered around. I finally saw a sign that said, "Sistine Chapel" with an arrow. The path led me through all these rooms that were decorated, had carpets hanging, and had displays of religious junk. I just by passed it a little on the quick side. Well, so did a lot of people. I looked at some, but I passed most of it up. It's like the short tour at the Coor's brewery.....I don't care how you make it, just give me the beer. Ha Ha! I'm just not that big into all the religious stuff. In fact, I paid more money for my admission ticket (8 Euros) than all the money I have put in the church collection basket in my lifetime. I'm going to hell! Anyway, I did want to see the artwork in the chapel for sure! When I entered the first thing I noticed was a mass of people with their heads turns upwards. I walk in. The place HUGE!! Honestly, it was nothing like I expected!! It was a mix of a let-down and more than I expected. The let-down what that I thought the image where that guy is pulling Santa Clause's finger would be larger.....much larger. The thing is tiny! I thought that was the main deal! Well, it's not. The main deal is actually on the wall depicting a bunch of nude men. It was pretty incredible. The place is covered from top to bottom with artwork. Crazy! I thought it was just one big finger pulling, but it was so much more. I was in there longer than any other rooms combined. It was pretty awesome! The artwork is masterful, detailed, and I couldn't believe that one person could do that in a single lifetime. Crazy! The only thing that really bothered me about the room packed with people was that people were very loud. Disrespectfully loud! One of the security guard kept continually making an announcement for people to stop talking and many people didn't even bother to pay attention to him. Also, if you pull out your camera they are on you like a pack of wolves on a 3-legged cat. It's crazy! They are super firm about it!

Vatican Museum

Vatican Museum

Vatican Museum

As I walked out I was down the hall a ways and I see this girl. I recognize her from somewhere, but I can't quiet place it. I was so confident that I had seen her before that I went up to her and said, "I have met or seen you before, I know it". She looks at me and says, "Oh yeah, I sat across from you on the train", Yep, it was the girl from the train. She was really talkative now. It was funny. Anyway, I left the museum area and headed to the main square. It was now sprinkling. Oh, sidebar.....in Italy when it has been raining you will find these guys trying to sell umbrellas on the street. There are in your face about it too. They are everywhere! There's a business model for ya! So, I head to the square and it is pretty sweet! It was a pretty cool place to see. The line for the Basilica went literally out of the country. People were lined up huddled in the rain with their newly purchased umbrellas. I walked out to the center of the square and immediately it started down-pouring!! People stared to run for shelter and trying to get out of the rain. There was so much rain coming down! I just stood there and enjoyed it. I think it was a sign from God that I probably shouldn't be there. Ha Ha! After, I took the metro back to the hostel to rest a while. These long days have been making me tired in the late afternoon.

Vatican City

Me at the Vatican

Let me offer another observation. Tour guides! These people are nuts! Most are not so bad, but it's the ones with the amplifier and the mic that drive me nuts. It is so distracting. The cool thing is that they have these guides who have Britney Spears mic that they speak into that is on a walkie-talkie system so everyone else in the tour can hear him/her. There will be a whole tour group walk by all hooked up to mics and you'd barley ever notice. It's really cool! The funny thing is that I first noticed this recently in Florence. I was walking down a main street and this girl was walking next to me and I heard a load voice emitting from her ear piece. I thought she was on the phone. Then shortly after is a guy walking next to me and I hear the same voice coming from his ear. That is when I noticed that everyone around me was part of a tour group and there one person who was speaking into the mic pointing out stuff. So funny!

I forgot to mention something funny. I got this Learn Italian audio wav from the library before I left and I popped it in on the way to Venice. After the Introduction I turned it off because I couldn't stop laughing. Here was the set-up for the very first conversation:

"Lesson 1. Dialog 1. Gino and Gabby have know Pedro a long time ever since he tried hitting on Gabby by giving her the best cuts of meat only to find out that she was married. Gino went to settle the score, but when Pedro handed him a think steak to treat the black-eye he had just given him, a friendship was born. Since then Gino and Gabby have been on the look-out for a good match for Pedro, but it hasn't been an easy job. They decided to try a new co-worked named, "Marina" who has a good sense of humor. When Gino and Gabby arrive at the restaurant they find Pedro already waiting for them........."

Ha Ha!

Anyway, I just found out what all the celebrating was in Florence. Apparently it's a national observance. 150 Years of Italy....or so I hear. Also, it's St. Patrick's Day and I had no idea. I'm pretty tired so I'll skip having a drink tonight and catch-up tomorrow. I have two more full days to explore Rome so I need my rest.

Ciao!